Beyond Uranus

by Stewart Bruce & Nigel Moreland

  “OK John I’m up for that.”

  John picked up the two glasses and passed one to me “Here’s to a new start and friendship.” He then knocked back the drink, put his glass on the table, picked up the hammer, smashed it with one stroke and put the hammer back down.

  “Here’s to a new start and friendship” I echoed. I drank the liquid which looked like wine but tasted like fruit juice, put his glass on the table, picked up the hammer, smashed it with one stroke and put the hammer back down.

  “Thank you Roy, you really don’t know what this means to me.” John held out his hand and I shook it. I turned and walked the length of the bar to the exit as John sat back down. As I went through the door Claire was still there waiting patiently for me.

  As we walked off Claire asked, “What was the breaking of the glasses all about?”

  “It’s a family tradition. Apparently his family has a tradition of breaking the glass after the toast.”

  “What were you toasting?”

  “Our new friendship, he apologised and so did I.”

  “So that’s why you were shaking hands at the end?”

  “Yes, he was really quite humble about it all.”

  “Good.”

  When we go back to the apartments we went to Claire’s place for a long chat about John’s change in attitude towards me. At two in the morning I left to get some sleep before our next shift started.

  *

  “Roy wake up,” pleaded Adams.

  “Roy wake up please.”

  “Roy.”

  “ROY!”

  “What, what’s happening,” I was still half asleep and for a few seconds I had no idea where I was. “What’s wrong Adams?”

  “Simon wants to talk to you.”

  “OK put him on.”

  “Hi Roy. I wonder if you could come over to my office right now.”

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s just after eight in the morning.”

  “But I thought my shift was going to start at twelve. I’m not late am I?”

  “No Roy but I would like you to come to my office now please. It’s very important that you get here.”

  “OK I will leave as soon as possible. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

  I had a quick wash and started walking over to Simon’s office. When I arrived there were three other pilots waiting outside the office. Peter was there with two others. I remembered the other two pilots who were Richard Wilkins and Doctor Hugh White. When I’d spoken to Richard on the night I’d met the pilots he had only talked about rugby. It looked like Richard had played a lot of rugby because his physique looked like he had muscles bursting to exit the white jumpsuit. Hugh was also a large stocky man who looked like he could give Richard a run for his money. Peter looked away as I approached and Richard said “You can knock and go in. We’re going to wait out here.” I knocked and when I was summoned I entered the room. Before entering I looked at Richard, Hugh and Peter in turn. Richard and Hugh returned cold stares but Peter had his head bowed.

  There were two people in the room. Simon was behind his desk and sat next to him was John D’Eath. I looked at John and gasped. He had a badly bruised face, his lip was split and you could see the start of what was going to be a very black eye. There were pink stains on the top of his white jumpsuit where blood had dripped but the suit hadn’t finished self cleaning.

  In front of John were the remains of a computer with a hammer next to it. The computer had been smashed into several pieces and I could see pieces of micro circuitry jutting out of some of the broken casing “Oh my God John. Somebody’s murdered your computer!”

  “Take a seat please Roy,” said Simon. I sat in a chair opposite him and he continued “Where were you at about ten fifteen last night Roy?”

  “I was in the Pilot’s Bar talking to John.”

  “And when you had finished talking what did you do?”

  “I left and went to Claire’s apartment for a chat. Why?”

  “It seems that your chat with John turned into an argument and what you actually did was lose your temper with John and then give him a severe beating. Not happy with inflicting injuries on John you then smashed his computer with this hammer. John is going to have to spend a bit of time with Doctor Philberts in reconstruction but his computer is smashed beyond repair.”

  “I swear to God Simon none of that happened,” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  John butted in “Don’t believe a word he says Simon, he’s a liar.”

  “Thank you John I will deal with this,” advised Simon, “Roy, your DNA is all over the hammer”

  “I can explain that,” I protested.

  “And,” continued Simon, “Doctor Philberts has found traces of your DNA on John’s face. If you think you can explain that please feel free to try.”

  “OK. John and I were in the bar last night and we apologised to each other. We drank a toast and smashed the glasses with that hammer and then I shook hands with him and left. My DNA will obviously be on the hammer and he could have easily have wiped DNA from his hands onto his wounds.”

  “I’ve never heard so much rubbish in all my life. Don’t listen to him Simon he’s a liar, he beat me and then smashed my computer in a rage,” ranted John, “I thought he was going to kill me with the hammer after he’d finished with the computer. I had to plead for my life because I thought he was going to kill me. He went completely mad and I really thought he was going to kill me. He’s dangerous and...”

  “John,” said Simon, “Will you please calm down and leave this to me. Roy, are you honestly suggesting that John inflicted his own wounds and then rubbed his hand onto the wounds afterwards?”

  “I’m not suggesting anything I’m only saying the events of last night were as I’ve just stated and not like what John has told you. Adams was there and he’ll confirm everything I’ve said isn’t that right Adams?”

  “I can confirm that Roy’s statement about the events of last night are very accurate and John D’Earth’s statement is not true,” confirmed Adams.

  “Don’t listen to the computer Simon,” said John. “That computer is also a liar. You know what The Architect said, he said it wasn’t normal but was doing things that Roy had taught it like sarcasm, laughing and now lying. He’s wrecked his own computer and smashed mine in a frenzied rage.”

  “John! Will you please let me conduct this interview or I will ask you to leave,” warned Simon, “Roy I’m afraid that John is sort of correct. The Architect has stated that although your computer is functioning according to his coding, the way in which it is functioning is unusual. Under the circumstances I cannot accept a statement from your computer, so at the moment it is one person’s word against another and will need further investigation. If, however, it turns out that you have done what Doctor D’Eath has said then we would have no other alternative than to remove your computer and immediately terminate your contract.”

  I couldn’t believe it. They might ask me to leave and all because of a devious, half demented, scheming lunatic. I had friends, somebody I loved and a purpose in my life and I could lose it all thanks to Doctor Death. He was evil and I hated every inch of him. If Simon wasn’t in the room I would have given him a proper beating he would never have forgotten.

  “Hang on a second,” I said shaking my head trying to remember the events of the night. “Claire was there as well.”

  “No she wasn’t,” shouted John, “It was only me and you. There was nobody else in the room. He’s lying again!”

  “I never said she was in the room but she was there. She was stood outside the door waiting for me. She couldn’t hear what we said and John wouldn’t have been able to see her but she saw everything and she’ll be able to confirm that I didn’t beat up John and smash his computer.”

  “That’s not true he’s lying it was only me and him,” John was getting louder.

  Simon said “I think we’d better contact Claire and see whic
h story she agrees with and then we’ll ask her computer as well.”

  John began to stutter “She, she, she will lie as well. She will lie because she is his girlfriend. Everybody knows that and he will, he, he will have reprogrammed her computer and it will lie too. He, he beat me and smashed my computer.”

  Simon pushed a button on his desk “Get me Claire Seabright in my office now.”

  John started shouting “No, no she is a liar and her computer is a liar.” He stood up and pointed at me “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to put your dead body in a decompression chamber and blast you into space. I will smash your computer into atoms and then I’m going to murder that bitch of a girlfriend.”

  I stood up. If he came any closer I was going to twat him.

  “You’re a dead man McCormack and I’m going to enjoy killing you.”

  Simon pressed another button on his desk while John was still ranting. The three pilots who I passed on the way into the room rushed in and grabbed me. Peter had grabbed hold of both wrists and crossed my arms in front of my chest whilst Hugh and Richard were either side of me and had grabbed hold of an upper arm each. They all gripped tight pressing their fingers into my flesh and the pressure of the grip sent searing pain through my arms. I was pushed back into my chair and I cracked my head on the back whilst Peter dug his knee into my belly to pin me down.

  Through the fuzzy pain I heard Simon shout at the top of his voice “Not Roy! John D’Eath. Quick he’s gone space crazy!” The three pilots suddenly loosened their grip and turned towards Doctor D’Eath. His face was contorted with rage and it had started to turn a bright red as he released a deafening scream. From out of his jumpsuit he produced a knife and held it high above his head. In what looked like slow motion Peter rushed towards Doctor D’Eath and threw himself at him. It was like watching a mad version of ten pin human bowling. Peter’s shoulders collided with John midriff sending the knife flying past Simon’s head and imbedding itself in the wall with a comical twang. Peter and John crumpled to the ground and Richard and Hugh played ‘pile on’ by jumping on top of them.

  “I’m going to kill you,” shouted John, “Wherever you are I’m going to find you and kill you.”

  Simon started shouting “Get him out of my office! Get him into the shuttle, strap him down and get back to Earth as soon as possible. Then lock him away somewhere safe where he can’t do any damage.”

  The three pilots picked him up like a carpet, strapping his arms and legs tightly with their arms and started manhandling him away.

  As they carried him off I could hear his shouting fading into the distance “I’m going to kill you McCormack. I’m going to kill you and your glitched computer. You’re a dead man. Wherever you are I’m going to find you and make you pay for everything. I’m going to hunt you down like human vermin and kill you and that bitch of a girlfriend and rip your computer apart atom by atom. I’m going to kill you McCormack...” His voice faded slowly as he repeated his threats.

  Simon sat back down as Claire arrived “What the hell is going on?”

  “Doctor Death lost it.” I said

  “I’m so very sorry Roy,” said Simon, “I honestly thought you had beaten him and I was going to terminate your contract. I cannot believe how devious he was with the evidence.”

  “What the hell is going on?” interrupted Claire.

  “Doctor Death accused me of beating him up in the bar last night when I went to see him.”

  “No way! I thought he was apologising and being nice and he said you beat him up. I was there Simon and that definitely didn’t happen.”

  “I think I’ve found that out thanks Claire and I’m really sorry Roy,” apologised Simon.

  “It wasn’t your fault Simon. Doctor Death had gone to great lengths to create a lot of false evidence.”

  I looked at Simon’s table and the remains of John’s computer “I cannot believe he murdered his own computer. I can understand him trying to frame me by beating himself up but he didn’t need to murder his computer.”

  “I think he smashed his computer because it would have given a different account of events to what John was saying. I think he was hoping to get away with it by making your computer out to be faulty and unreliable. It would have been your word against his but with your DNA over his face and on the hammer,” explained Simon.

  “He’s devious and evil,” I looked at his broken computer, “I’m going to speak to The Architect.”

  Simon nodded “I also think that this has been a very traumatic incident and I cannot believe I thought about terminating your contract. There is no way I’m going to let you out on duty today so I will get somebody to cover both you and Claire.” He turned to Claire “You’ve been asking for a bit of time to go and visit your mother on Earth. I’m giving you a week from today for you to go and do that Claire. Roy?” He turned to look at me, “I want you to take the next week off as well.”

  “But I’ve only worked three days.”

  “I know but I want you to have time to seriously think about being on the station. I feel I have compromised our relationship and therefore your relationship with the company. I want you to have time to seriously consider if you still want to work for us. I don’t want a member of staff secretly harbouring a grudge because I made a silly mistake. That kind of resentment can eat away at you and may lead you to end up like John. If you decide after a week that you don’t want to work with us anymore I fully understand after today’s events. I will see you both in one week from now at eight in the morning.”

  “Can I ask a favour?”

  “Of course.”

  “Can I use Stella for something personal?”

  “Of course you can Roy. You don’t need my permission to use your ship. It is yours to use for as long as you are working with the company.”

  “I will see you in a week then.”

  I got up, walked over to Simon’s desk and carefully picked up all the pieces of John’s computer. Cradling the shattered remains in my hands I left Simon’s office with Claire to go and see The Architect.

  *

  Adams led me and Claire to The Architect who was in a small office near the meeting room we had been in the other day. I entered the room and walked up to his desk and carefully laid the pieces down on his desk. The Architect looked over the pieces for a few seconds and then said “There’s nothing I can do.”

  “Nothing at all?” enquired Claire “Why Michael?”

  “The power cell has been severed from the main board. It would be like you having a main artery from your heart severed which means death would follow very quickly. Once the power cell is severed all the programming in his core program will degrade very quickly and the memory circuits become unusable. Even if I could reconnect the power cell I would not be able to reinstall a core program because his memory circuits basically die without any power. The power holds the atomic structure of the internal memory together. When the power is turned off the structure quickly degrades and cannot be used anymore.”

  For the first time from anybody else other than me I heard The Architect refer to John’s computer as ‘his’ rather than ‘its’.

  “Are you sure there is nothing you can do Michael?” I pleaded.

  “I’m sorry Roy but I cannot bring life back once power has been severed and the memory circuits degrade.”

  And there it was again, the Architect referring to the computer using the term ‘life’. It could have been the way he spoke in referring to a computer without power but I wanted to believe that The Architect actually believed that his version four creations were sentient.

  “OK. Thanks Michael for trying. Come on Claire.” I carefully picked the pieces of computer up off the desk.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To my ship,” we started walking out the office “Adams can you put me through to Mark Broadbent.”

  “You’re connected Roy.”

  “Hello Mark?”

  “Hello Roy what can I d
o?”

  “Is Stella ready? I want to take her out.”

  “She’ll be ready in five minutes.”

  “Good. I’ll be there in ten.”

  Claire walked with me in silence as we made our way out of the pilot’s facilities and started walking towards the hangars. There were some people about as usual and they all seemed to stop and wait whilst we walked to the installation.

  “Roy, just wait here a moment please,” said Adams.

  “Why Adams, what’s the matter?”

  That’s odd, I’ve just picked up an anomalous energy surge on the far side of the bay.”

  “What do you mean, anomalous Adams?”

  “It’s nothing like any form of energy that I have a signature for, this is something completely different. Over to your left can you see anyone or anything that looks out of place?”

  Turning my gaze leftwards I could see nothing out of place, the only slightly odd thing was a man with long dark hair who stood looking towards us, no panic or anything about him to suggest he shouldn’t be there. It was the long dark hair that puzzled me. I’ve never seen any of the men here with long hair like a seventies rock star. His gaze gave me the collywobbles, as though his sight was boring in under my skin. I shivered and turned away, breaking eye contact. “All I can see is that unusual looking bloke with the long hair.”

  “Where Roy? I have no life forms on the scanner for that part of the hangar.”

  I turned back to point, but he was gone.

  When we arrived at my ship the four members of the ground crew were lined up waiting for me.

  “She’s ready Roy,” said Mark.

  “Thanks Mark. I won’t be long guys and I’ll bring her back without a scratch.”

  When Claire and I entered the ship the outer hull door slid closed. I carefully placed the computer remains next to the door and walked into the cockpit with Claire. The cockpit door slid closed and I strapped myself in whilst Claire pulled the passenger seat out of the wall.